Azure Support FAQs

Azure Support Overview

Support is available in markets where Microsoft Azure is offered. Some specific services may not be covered in all regions immediately after General Availability (GA).

Your Microsoft Azure subscription includes access to subscription management support (e.g. billing, quota adjustment, account transfer) at no additional cost. You can get started with your request in the Azure Portal. In addition, Microsoft Azure subscriptions include access to the Azure Status Dashboard and the Azure Forums to help you troubleshoot issues.

Break-fix issues are technical problems you experience while using Azure services. "Break-fix" is an industry term that refers to “work involved in supporting a technology when it fails in the normal course of its function, which requires intervention by a support organization to be restored to working order."

For North America, Business Hours are defined as 6:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Pacific time, Monday through Friday excluding holidays for North America. Business Hours change by country and by the local holiday calendar. For most countries in the world, Business Hours refer to the hours between 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M. during week days (weekends and holidays excluded)

Yes, you need an Azure paid support plan to receive one-on-one technical support. More information about the existing support plans can be found at the Azure Support Plans page.

Microsoft provides 24x7 support in English for all severities and in Japanese for severity A only. Support is available during local business hours only for all other supported languages and severities. Support outside business hours will be provided in English (with translation services). You may choose to wait for the next business day to receive support in your language.

We have designed our Azure Support plans to meet different business needs. Paid support plans provide access to Technical Support for break-fix issues on a 24x7 basis. Higher tiers of support plans offer faster initial response times and access to Advisory support, Configuration Optimization Reviews, and other benefits. More information about the existing support plans can be found at the Azure Support Plans page.

Azure Stack is covered by the Standard, Pro Direct and Premier support plans.

Support for Preview services and features is provided only for “Public Preview” programs (see FAQ above). Other non-Public Preview and/or Beta services may be supported through our forums or other channels. Azure Support plans do not cover non-Public Previews services.

Generally, Azure paid support plans provide technical support for services and features in Public Preview. Some exceptions to the Public Preview support coverage applies, and services/features not covered on your support plan can be found here. Private or Limited previews are not included in the scope of the Azure Support plans and may or may not be supported through the Azure Forums.

Technical support for a Public Preview service or feature is limited to break-fix scenarios and is available only in English with 24x7 support available for severities A and B (according to your support plan).

Professional Direct (ProDirect) Advisory support provides you access to Azure Support guidance based on (1) publically available, best practices documentation regarding Microsoft Azure and (2) information from the Azure Forums. ProDirect advisors offer you support based on their access to Microsoft documentation, to the Microsoft Azure Support Engineers, and also to the Microsoft Azure product group. Best practices guidance may include, for example,

Planning for deployments and migrations

Planning for hybrid cloud solutions

Boosting performance

Improving reliability and recoverability

Enhancing security

ProDirect, however, is more limited than Premier Advisory Support. ProDirect advisors do not provide detailed advisory assistance specific to an individual customer such as design, architecture, or code reviews; detailed instructions for application or configuration tuning (e.g., performance tuning); or the verification of specifications. ProDirect does not provide onsite support or engage in implementation activities such as, but not limited to, coding or configuration for customer development or deployment on Microsoft Azure.

Yes. Azure Stack is an extension of Azure and the support for Azure Stack is included in the Standard, Professional Direct, and Premier paid support plans. Please note that Stack is not included in the Developer paid support plan.

You can raise questions on our Azure Forums. The forums are an online resource where you can connect with other Azure customers and experts to ask questions, share experiences, or find solutions. There are two forum options: MSDN and Stack Overflow. MSDN is a Microsoft online property; Stack Overflow is not associated or affiliated with Microsoft.

Technical support benefits may be available even if you don’t have a support plan. If you are a member of certain programs like MPN, MSDN or BizSpark, you may be eligible for limited Azure Support benefits from those Programs. Please refer to your service terms and conditions to understand your support options and benefits.

Your Azure subscription includes access to subscription management support (e.g. billing, quota adjustment, account transfer) at no additional cost. You can get started with your request in the Azure Portal. In addition, Microsoft Azure subscriptions include access to the Azure Status Dashboard and the Azure Forums to help you troubleshoot issues.

Microsoft provides 24x7 in English for severity A and B and in Japanese for severity A. Developer support includes on severity C, the lowest severity level.

For all other supported languages, Microsoft provides assistance during local business hours only. During non-business hours, you can request to have an English-speaking engineer support you, with the option of using our free-of-charge translation services, if needed. You can also choose to wait until the next business day to receive help in one of the supported languages other than English.

Microsoft may provide access to Azure preview, beta, or other pre-release features, services, software, or regions, to obtain feedback and for evaluation purposes. Previews that are available are identified by a “Preview” tag in the Azure Portal. They are also listed on the Preview page or in the Preview section of the Azure Portal.

There are many different kinds of Preview Services and Features for Microsoft Azure, with service availability and program access being the biggest differentiators:

Public Preview: made available to Microsoft Azure subscribers through the Azure Portal, these services are intended to be used as an early-look into what is coming and as a chance to test upcoming services and features.

Private Preview: provided only to small subset of customers, in direct contact with the Azure Engineering teams, focused on direct and constant feedback during the development phase of a service

Limited Preview: a fixed and limited number of customers can have access to this Preview program, and once a maximum threshold is met, no more users are allowed into the program.

When Microsoft offers you early access to Azure preview services and features, they are subject to reduced or different service terms as set forth in your service agreement and the preview supplemental terms. Preview Services and Features are provided “as-is”, “with all faults”, and “as available”, and are excluded from the Service SLAs or any Limited Warranties provided by Microsoft for Azure Services released to general availability (GA), and are made available to you on the condition that you agree to these terms of use, which supplement your agreement governing use of Microsoft Azure.

Access to Azure technical support requires a paid support plan. However, some Microsoft programs could give you access to Azure technical support via Support Benefits even if you don’t have a paid support plan. The following programs include Azure Support Benefits:

Each of these programs will give you different support benefits, from response times to the number of requests that can be submitted. Please check the details of each program from the links above for more information.

There are also some programs like MSDN and BizSpark Plus that give you other Microsoft Azure Benefits on top of access to Technical Support, such as monthly usage credits, free services and discounted consumption rates. Check the details of these programs for more information.

Using Azure Support

You get easy access to Azure Support by going online to the Azure Portal and submitting a support request. This is the fastest way to hear back from a Support Engineer that will be ready to start helping you. Access to Subscription Management and billing support is included with your Microsoft Azure subscription, and Technical Support is provided through one of the Azure Support Plans.

You can open a Subscription Management support request through the Azure portal, even if your subscription has not yet been created.

Submitting support requests online allows us to deliver fast and deep technical expertise in the most effective and efficient manner possible. Due to the detailed nature of the requests, it is much easier to provide relevant information online, compared to reading this information over the phone. This model also eliminates unproductive hold time for a simple, intuitive online process. As a result, customer problems are routed more quickly, to the most qualified engineer.

You can get support from Azure in two ways:

Being the Account Administrator of your customer’s subscription, you can purchase an Azure Support plan for that account, as with any subscription you own under the same account are covered by the same support plan. You can also use your Partner benefits (for example, Signature Cloud Support or MPN Support) to submit a support request, without having to acquire a dedicated Azure Support plan.

Get support using your customer’s account. To do so, the Partner (you) must have administrator or owner privileges to the customer’s subscription. The customer’s subscription then needs to have a support plan covering it, or the Partner can use their Azure Support Benefits (for example, Signature Cloud Support or MPN Support) to submit a support request, without having to acquire a dedicated Azure Support plan.

Microsoft offers customers the ability to run non-Microsoft technologies on the Microsoft Azure platform, including but not limited to Linux, Oracle, SAP, and IBM. For all scenarios that are eligible for support through an Azure Support plan, Microsoft Support will help in isolating the issue between the Microsoft Azure Service and your custom application.

Full technical support will be provided if the issue is determined to be caused by a Microsoft Azure service or platform. Commercially reasonable support will be provided to all other scenarios. When an adequate solution to your issue is not achieved, you might be referred to other support channels that are available for the non-Microsoft software.

Start by referring to Azure Service Health, a personalized dashboard that provides guidance and support when issues in Azure services affect you. Unlike our public status page which provides general status information, Azure Service Health provides tailored information about the impact to your resources. To be notified of service issues, use Azure Service Health to configure alerts so that the right people are notified of service health events affecting your resources. Finally, if Azure Service Health does not show any active or recent service issues, contact support using your technical support plan.

Initial Response Time is the period from when you submit your support request to when a Microsoft Support Engineer contacts you and starts working on your support request. The Initial Response Time varies with both the support plan and the Business Impact of the request (also known as Severity).

Access to Azure technical support requires a paid support plan. However, some Microsoft programs could give you access to Azure technical support via Support Benefits even if you don’t have a paid support plan. If you have these benefits, then from Azure Portal Support Request Submission, select “Additional Options” under the “Support Plan” step and enter your Access ID and Contract ID information to proceed.

If you have not yet activated your technical support benefits, please do so by following these steps, depending on which program entitles you to support benefits. You will need your Access ID and Contract ID to take advantage of your Azure Support Benefits.

MSDN/BizSpark - Log in to the MSDN Management Portal and activate your support benefit by clicking the technical support link at the bottom of the page. The option listed below is only displayed if you are entitled for Technical Support Benefits.

Support for billing and subscription management issues is included with your Microsoft Azure subscription at no additional charge, so you don’t need to use your technical support benefits to receive support from Microsoft for billing or subscription related issues.

Contacting the Microsoft Azure Support over the phone will not speed up the processing of your request and you will get a much better and faster experience by contacting support via the Azure Portal. If you cannot submit a request online, you can find a local support number from our list of regional Global Customer Service Centers.

To grant permission, you have to be a subscription administrator or owner on the required subscription. Assign the Support Request Contributor role at the subscription scope, to all users who want to create and manage support requests for that given subscription. Learn more about role assignments in the portal.

Submit a support request from the Azure Portal. Simply select "Support" from the menu bar or open the "Help + support" hub. For more detailed information, please review How to create an Azure support request.
Access to Subscription Management and billing support is included with your Microsoft Azure subscription, and Technical Support is provided through one of the Azure Support Plans.

Microsoft is committed to assist you in resolving your issue as soon as possible. Sometimes that means focusing efforts on reducing the business impact and mitigating any negative impact to your operation, before moving to a full solution. Therefore, we make a commitment to Initial Response Time and also in working with you until the impact of your issue is mitigated, having no direct SLA for support request resolution. The time it takes to troubleshoot and resolve a support request varies greatly based on the specifics of the issue. We will work with you to get the issue resolved as fast as possible.

If you have opened an Azure technical support case and need an RCA, you can request one for all Azure support plans, including Premier.

Purchasing & Billing

Azure Support plans may be purchased either online or through an Enterprise Agreement. The Developer, Standard, or Professional Direct Support plans are available online through the Azure Support Plans page. You must be the Microsoft Azure account owner to purchase a support plan.

If you purchase Microsoft Azure through an Enterprise Agreement (EA), you can add either a Standard or Professional Direct support plan to your Enterprise Agreement, by contacting your Large Account Reseller (LAR). Developer Support is not available through an Enterprise Agreement.

Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers can purchase an upgrade to move from Standard to Professional Direct, where available. To purchase the upgrade, contact your Large Account Reseller (LAR).

When you purchase an Azure Support plan online, you will be charged immediately for the first month. You will be charged the monthly amount on the first day of each subsequent billing cycle. Enterprise Agreement (EA) purchases will follow the agreement billing cycle.

At the end of your term, your plan will automatically renew to the same Azure Support plan, using the same payment method.

The flat monthly cost for Azure Support covers one account, regardless of how many subscriptions or users you have on the account.

All subscriptions under an account will share the same support plan, and all users with admin/owner access to any of the subscriptions under the account with a Support Plan will also be entitled to support for those specific account’s subscriptions they have access to.

A Microsoft Azure account can be accessed from the Account Portal. From there you can see the list of subscriptions that belong to the account and will be entitled for support.

To change your support plan, first cancel your existing support plan, then purchase a new support plan.

To cancel your support plan, select the support plan subscription you want to cancel and click Cancel subscription.

If you still have questions, open a new support request with the Billing team in the Azure portal. For issue type, select Subscription management, then select the applicable support plan and click Request for cancelation of a subscription.

Azure Support requires commitment for the duration of the subscription term. Cancelation will not result in a pro-rated refund.

Azure Support for Enterprise Agreement (EA)

Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers can purchase Azure Standard, ProDirect, and Premier technical support through their Reseller. Developer Support is not available through an Enterprise Agreement.

Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers can purchase an upgrade to move from Standard to Professional Direct, where available. To purchase the upgrade, contact your Large Account Reseller (LAR).

If you have already placed an order for a support plan via EA and the order is pending, you can be temporarily enabled to receive technical support. To do so, please submit a “Subscription Management” support request via the Microsoft Azure Portal and indicate the plan that you ordered (Standard or Professional Direct) and provide a description of the issue. A support engineer will then contact you.

Yes, each EA enrollment requires a separate support plan. If you have one Azure Support plan and multiple EA enrollments, then support is only covered under the enrollment the support plan is tied to. Please note that if you have multiple Azure subscriptions under a single EA enrollment with a support plan, then all those subscriptions will have access to Technical Support.

Azure Support for Premier

You need to make sure that your Premier contract appears in the “Support Plan” dropdown when creating a support case. This is possible through the following options:

Microsoft pre-matching: In most cases, your Microsoft Premier team will have already matched your Azure subscriptions to your Premier contract and you will see it appear in the Azure Portal when creating a support case.

Matching Accounts: If you login to the Azure Portal with the same Microsoft account user/email address (e.g.: outlook.com, live.com, Hotmail.com) used to access the Microsoft Premier Online portal (premier.microsoft.com), your Premier contract will automatically show up in the Azure Portal.

Manual Input: You can link your Premier contract to your Azure account, by entering your Premier Access ID and Contract ID information in the Azure Portal by selecting “Help + Support” in the Azure Portal and selecting “Link support contract” from the left-hand side menu. This is a one-time process and your Premier contract information will be saved with your Azure account, being accessible from all subscriptions where you have Owner/Administrator privileges. Contact your Technical Account Manager (TAM) if you don’t have your access ID and contract ID information.

Although Premier customers can continue to use the Microsoft Premier Online portal or phone channels to submit a support request, using the Azure Portal has a number of significant advantages including:

To purchase Premier support you should contact your Microsoft Account Manager. If you are not sure who to contact, please submit a request through the Premier contact form.

Enterprise Support customers have the option to purchase Azure Rapid Response, an annual plan which provides expedited response and recovery services for Azure outages. Azure Event Management is a short-term program that helps customers with planned events involving heavy Azure dependency, also offering a 15-minute response time during the event itself.

Yes, Partners with Premier Support for Partners (PSfP) contracts are able to use their benefits to get Azure Support for their internal needs, as well as to assist their customers, as long as the Partner has been delegated admin/owner access to their customer’s Azure subscription. See FAQ above on how to submit a support request using your Premier contract.

The Cloud Service Dependency Map (CSDM) documents critical system dependencies, both upstream and downstream, that could impact your cloud services. This will help your IT staff recognize potential issues before they happen, and help them resolve issues faster when a problem happens.

Azure Support for Partner

Yes, if you are eligible to these benefits and have activated your support access on the Visual Studio subscription portal. Access to Azure technical support requires a paid support plan. However, some Microsoft programs could give you access to Azure technical support via Support Benefits even if you don’t have a paid support plan. If you have these benefits, then from Azure Portal Support Request Submission, select “Additional Options” under the “Support Plan” step and enter your Access ID and Contract ID information to proceed.

Yes, if you are eligible for such benefits. Check the MPN Portal for details on your support benefits. If you have these benefits, then submit a support request from the Azure Portal. Then, select “Additional Options” under the “Support Plan” step and enter your Access ID and Contract ID information to proceed.

Yes. MPN partners can use the same MPN benefits they have for other Microsoft products to receive Azure Technical support. To submit a new support request from the Azure Portal, in the support request’s Step 4, select "Additional Support Options" and enter your Access ID and Contract ID information to proceed.